Watermelon on a Stick

Going to a party and bringing watermelon?

I saw this and decided to try it - popsicle sticks inserted in wedges - for less mess!

Just slice the watermelon into wedges, and using a knife make a slit in the side - and insert the sticks!

For Your Garden

Found these cute little tables at Five Below and I'm using them in the garden to prop up pots and for a pop of white among leaves of green!

Broccoli, Cheddar & Brown Rice Cakes

These were MOST delicious!

Here's the link to the recipe from Cooking Light...

There were several steps, but these broccoli, cheddar and brown rice cakes were super yummy - especially with the green onions on top!  We both had them for lunch today!

Super Sandwich

This is an easy sandwich to put together and super tasty!

grill deli ham in a skillet and sprinkle both sides with pepper.

layer on country bread the ham, swiss cheese, sliced whole dill pickles lengthwise, and lots of yellow mustard.

serve with carrot sticks!

Dinner Salad

This is my favorite salad to have for dinner:

iceberg lettuce shredded
grated cheddar
sliced avocado
black beans, drained and rinsed
2 limes
cumin - 1/2 tsp
salt
grape tomatoes
rotisserie chicken - chopped

in a skillet, place 3 cups chopped chicken, lime juice, cumin and salt - cook five minutes.  set aside.

in a large bowl place the shredded lettuce with lime juice and salt (and toss), top with the chicken, the beans, cheese, avocado, tomatoes and more lime juice - toss.

enjoy with tortilla chips!

Who Knew?

My niece's little girl Selah, who writes a column for A Bundle of THYME, was sporting a cute purse from Paper Source yesterday.  I had no idea they carried purses!

Look at the cute ones you can find there!

Bunny Cross Body for your daughter

Clutch for you

Black and White Dot bag for either of you!

Hot Dog with a Twist

We ordered this hot dog tonight from a food truck.  Here's what was on it:

Jalapeno
Hot Sauce 
Mayonaise 
Mustard 
Onion 
Tomato 
Beans 
Bacon

all in a special bread bun

DELISH!

Chicken SO Good

I love capers, so this chicken recipe is a delicious one with lemon AND capers - two of my faves.

Cook angel hair pasta according to directions.

You'll need thin cutlets - salt and pepper them - then dredge in flour.

In olive oil, fry them 3 minute per side or until done.

In a small bowl mix olive oil, lemon juice and chopped parsley. Season.

Remove the chicken and add 1/4 cup chicken stock and whisk with the remains of the chicken fry...add more chicken stock, 2 T capers, more parsley, and more lemon juice. Season.

Lay the chicken atop the pasta, then pour over the sauces.

We had a side of lemony fresh spinach too!

What a Sale!

I happened upon a huge sale at Michaels today, and here's the goodies I found:

Cardboard castle and playhouse that can be colored with markers and played in, on sale for $10 each!  We are going to set these up in the yard on Easter and let the kids color them and play in them.

Spring wrapping paper in cool dots and patterns for $1 - $1.50 each!

Wicker laundry baskets for $5 each.

I went into browse, and went out with a cart full!

For Walking

I can't really find them on line, but these were at Marshall's today - and they're by Clarks - they were on clearance - and they fit like a glove.

They are Clarks artisan unstructured walking shoes...if you want to search.  Or just stop by a Marshalls!

Bundtini

Have you tried a bundtini?  There's a place called Nothing but Bundt Cakes and they have the most deliciously moist bundt cakes.  A friend brought these tiny versions (bundtinis) to a group tonight, and I really, really enjoyed the lemon flavor - but she also brought cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate!

You can even order these online!

A Book Wall

While out shopping, I stopped and took a snapshot of this wall behind a bed - all books!  Each one had the middle third of the pages folded, then the books were nailed to the wall in this cool pattern.  I love this idea - but not sure where I'd get books to use in this manner. It sure is a stunning presentation and a cool idea, though!

Did You Know?

Did you know...the store Five Below has all sorts of reading/math/writing books for your preschool kids and primary grades?  There' s an entire rack of them, and they're so cute and great for that age when the kids are wanting to trace, count, learn their numbers, etc!  You can even order them on line...

id 

Color Combo

Standing in line to pay for something at Urban Outfitters, I eyed these nail polish bottles and bought them. (3 for $10) Storm is the gray color, and copper rush is the flecked orange polish - and I like the combo.

Goodies for Them

Kid toys for kid visits are always a necessity, and cute things and fun things are sometimes hard to find without spending a fortune, especially when there are multiple kiddos!  Here a few recent goodies:

Buckets with gardening tools for each kid - from Target.
Windmills for each one to stick in the ground and watch them blow - Dollar General.
Individual drinking cups with characters on them - Dollar Tree.

Chip Muffins!

I was unsure if this recipe would work or not, but it did!

Preheat oven to 400.

You'll line a large muffin tin (the one with six) with broken tortilla chips on the sides and across the bottom.

You'll then layer grated cheese (colby jack and pepper jack), your own Mexican meat mixture (onions, cumin, chili powder, cooked meat, green chiles or pickled jalapenos, whatever you prefer...) twice - then top with cheese.

You'll bake these for about 10 minutes.

The cheese melts and keeps the chips together so that they easily remove - and are little meat muffins!

Top with whatever you like (tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, cilantro)

Enjoy!

Banks for Kids

I went to the Dollar General today to find a couple of tablecloths for outdoors (they have a good selection) and stumbled upon these really cool banks for kids!  They were marked $6 and $9 but rang up $3!  There's frozen and spiderman and a few designs of each.  i can't wait to give them to my daughter's three kiddos and then start saving change for them to drop in!

Appetizer So Good

We had a group to attend and decided to bring this Brie cheese recipe to serve with crackers, and it was super easy to make.

2 Brie wheels (you can remove the rind with a small cheese slicer)
1/4 - 1/3 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 T butter melted
9 wheat crackers finely crushed
stoneground wheat crackers

Heat the jam in a bowl in the microwave about 15 seconds.  Spread it on the two wheels.  In a bowl, mix the walnuts, melted butter, and crushed crackers, then press the mixture into the jam.

Serve with the crackers!

Stuffed burger and Fries

I recently purchased a Copper Chef pan on line and used it for this dinner:

1lb ground beef made into eight balls, and then stuffed a cube of cheddar cheese inside  each one (inch cube).

Slice an onion and place the meatball into the slice.  Place flour in a bowl, 2 eggs mixed with 3 T milk in a second bowl, and breadcrumbs in the third.  Heat oil to frying stage.  After coating the meatballs in the flour, then the milk mixture, then the breadcrumbs, fry them until golden brown.

Spiralize a large potato and fry it as well - then season with blackened seasoning.

Serve with ketchup!

Cuddly & Cute

My friend's daughter in law makes these really cute baby gifts along with her friend, and they have a facebook page that shows their creations - check it out - and order some!  Here are a few:

In the Garden

Did you know that you can order online from Big Lots?  I didn't.  And they have some really cute garden decor in the store...and on line.  I just recently bought the ladybug stool!  Here are a few more items, and the ladybug stool in my garden...

in my own garden...

Top to Bottom

In A Bundle of THYME this month, we have date night ideas on the MARRIAGE page and one is called "top to bottom."  We actually took this date today in our city, where we start at the top of the city (north) and work out way throughout the day to the bottom (the south).  Here's how it went, and you too can incorporate these ideas into a date!

Breakfast tacos from a gas station (we had read about the best on Thrillist) in north area of town.
Pinballz arcade games - great to go on a Friday morning when no one was there, north.
A live art show in motion (free) on campus in center part of town
Lunch at a food truck BBQ (also read about this) center of town.
Shopping downtown, as well as a movie in a parking garage venue (downtown)
Coffee and life music south of town...

It just took a little planning and looking at things going on near us, and then planning our route "top to bottom!" And it sure was fun.

Carrot Ribbons

Trail mix, sweet potatoes and carrot ribbons were lunch today...

Here's how to make the carrot ribbons.

Using a peeler, peel carrots into thin ribbons, and place in salted boiling water for just one minute, then drain (reserving a bit of the liquid).

Add butter, a bit of the water, chopped rosemary, parsley, and chives, and grated Parmesan cheese and s&p to taste.

That's it!  It's so good!

Pecan Rice

An easy rice recipe that tastes absolutely delicious!

Chop one slice of bacon and fry in a sauce pan, in a bit of butter.  Add 1/2 chopped small onion and saute until tender.  Pour in 1 1/2 cups basmati rice, 1 cup chicken broth, and 1 1/4 cups water, salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer, cover for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, chop and toast 1/3 cup pecans.  Place them in the pot on top of the rice, cover, and let sit another 10 minutes, with stove turned off . Fluff with fork.

This was easy to pack in a thermos to go for lunch!  Or it makes a perfect side dish for dinner!

Four-Way Fun

At a party last weekend, one of the gifts was this four-way tunnel, which I had not seen before.  It was a huge hit with the kids...and the adults!  The kids can crawl in from four directions, and then pop up in the middle if they want to! And it all folds up easily into a round zipper pouch, so you can store it away.